In Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare explores the themes of dominance and power through Petruchio and Katherine’s relationship. Katherine’s fiery personality and lack of patience causes many conflicts to occur between her and other characters; when Petruchio and Kate first meet, Katherine’s insults don’t faze him and he actually accepts the verbal duel. The wordplay of this passage contains a hidden sense of power and control which establishes Petruchio with the upper hand by his manipulation of Kate’s sharp-tongue insults into sexual innuendo. The animal imagery provides insight into Petruchio’s intention to tame Katherine and foreshadows her submission. Moreover, the physical threat made by Petruchio is an act of superiority. Even
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Throughout the passage, the two main characters exemplify their intelligence through the creation of puns and metaphors from the other’s comments by using double meanings of such words. Commonly, Katherine’s play on words is meant to insult and threaten, but Petruchio would twist them into sexual connotations; this is meant to undermine Kate’s emotions and allows Petruchio to be in control of conversation. For example, Kate employs the word “bearing” (Shakespeare 2.1.201) to mean to hold weight, while Petruchio uses “bearing” in the context of giving birth. Another example would be Petruchio’s reference to “tails”, meaning someone’s behind, while Kate references ‘tales”, as in telling stories or lies. (217-220) Simultaneously, Petruchio displays his …show more content…
Petruchio tends to be dominant in most situations; he will use force in order to get what he wants and to get his point across. In his relationship with Katherine, he would have the upper hand in order to get her to act in the way he would want. His treatment of Kate’s behaviour is similar to his treatment of his servant, Grumio. For example, Petruchio grabs Grumio’s ear when he misinterprets him, even though his misunderstanding could have been avoided. Petruchio uses this tactic to practice and establish his dominance over others. Petruchio believes in treating his servant and future wife the same, indicating that he sees Kate as more of a servant than as a partner; This belief plays into their relationship as Petruchio establishes his superiority over her and his intent to make Kate see herself as inferior
Throughout the passage, the two main characters exemplify their intelligence through the creation of puns and metaphors from the other’s comments by using double meanings of such words. Commonly, Katherine’s play on words is meant to insult and threaten, but Petruchio would twist them into sexual connotations; this is meant to undermine Kate’s emotions and allows Petruchio to be in control of conversation. For example, Kate employs the word “bearing” (Shakespeare 2.1.201) to mean to hold weight, while Petruchio uses “bearing” in the context of giving birth. Another example would be Petruchio’s reference to “tails”, meaning someone’s behind, while Kate references ‘tales”, as in telling stories or lies. (217-220) Simultaneously, Petruchio displays his …show more content…
Petruchio tends to be dominant in most situations; he will use force in order to get what he wants and to get his point across. In his relationship with Katherine, he would have the upper hand in order to get her to act in the way he would want. His treatment of Kate’s behaviour is similar to his treatment of his servant, Grumio. For example, Petruchio grabs Grumio’s ear when he misinterprets him, even though his misunderstanding could have been avoided. Petruchio uses this tactic to practice and establish his dominance over others. Petruchio believes in treating his servant and future wife the same, indicating that he sees Kate as more of a servant than as a partner; This belief plays into their relationship as Petruchio establishes his superiority over her and his intent to make Kate see herself as inferior